UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 

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3 1262 08486 7778 Registry No. 1042-01 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

FOR THE 

ROOFING CONTRACTING INDUSTRY 

OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 

AS SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 31 , 1933 

, " ' ' ou. 

The Code for the Roofing Contracting Industry of St. Louis, Missouri 

in its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned 

industry, and none of the provisions contained therein are 

to be regarded as having received the approval of 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1933 

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For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - • Price 5 ce nts 
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SUBMITTED BY 

THE ASSOCIATED ROOFING CONTRACTORS OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 

(II) 
CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION SUBMITTED BY THE 

ASSOCIATED ROOFING CONTRACTORS OF ST. LOUIS, 

MISSOURI 

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE BusiNEss 

1. The Associated Roofing Contractors of St. Louis are engaged 

in the business of soliciting, obtaining, and ·executing contracts for 

the installation or setting of all manner of Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, 

Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles. 

The Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, Asphalt 

Shingles, and other accessories of the roofing business are purchased 

from their manufacturers and producers and shipped to the contractor in interstate commerce. 

The business of installing Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, 

Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles in St. Louis is primarily 

a local one, but some interstate business is done because of the fact 

that St. Louis is a border-line city. 

However, the relations between all branches of the business, 

including manufacturers, contractors, and labor, are so intimate and 

interdependent that in carrying out the objects and purposes of the 

National Industrial Recovery Act each must be regarded as an 

integral part of a unified business and participants in a continuous 

operation. 

2. Labor is the most important element in the business of the 

.Associated Roofing Contractors. Wages for labor represent from 

50% to 60% of the cost of the materials to the public. The work 

calls for careful treating and a high degree of skill, the good will of 

the industry being dependent on fine workmanship. The finest products will not give satisfaction unless properly installed. The maintenance of fair wages and working conditions is a matter of concern to everyone engaged in the business. These conditions are 

seriously threatened by unfair competitive practices which have 

grown to alarming proportions. It is a primary purpose of this 

submission to maintain fair wages and working conditions between 

the contractors and the labor employed by them and to prevent any 

lowering of the standards so set. 

3. Manufacturers, Jobbers, and Producers of the industry's products are not parties to the submission, but it is hoped and believed 

that they will adopt and submit codes which will provide for the 

cooperation of the parties hereto necessary to bring the entire business 

into conformity with the purpose of the act. 

2. REPRESENTATIVE GROUP 

This submission, made by the authority of the Associated Roofing 

Contractor of St. Louis, represents the will of the members of that 

9688-33 (1) 
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organization which is truly representative of this industry and is 

tendered as a code and/or agreement within the meaning of Title 

one ( 1) of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

Members of the Association through their contracts with the labor 

unions have. established wage scales and working conditions in this 

city. The industry maintains the Five (5) day week of Eight (8) 

hours per day. The scale of wages is One Dollar and Twenty Five 

Cents ($1.25) per hour for Mechanics and Seventy Five Cents (75¢) 

per hour for labor. Firms not employing union labor enjoy this 

protection, the fruits of the efforts and outlays of the Associated 

members, but pay none of the costs. Contractors of this class are 

comparable with sweat-shop operators in other industries, and their 

operations tend to lower the standards and bring the business into 

disrepute. 

No inequitable restrictions on admissions to membership are imposed. The Associated Roofing Contractors will accept into membership any roofing contractor who conforms fully to the provision 

of this code and employs members of the Slate and Tile Roofers 

Union Local Number One (1) of St. Louis. 

3. RELATIONS BETwEEN CoNTRACTORS AND LABOR 

Since the setting of Slate, Tile, Quarry Tileh Flagstone, Asbestos 

Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles or other roonng usually must be 

accomplished in accordance with a definite schedule which is a part 

of the building contract, delays due to disputes would be fatal to the 

business. Consequently, the respective parties to this submission 

have entered into agreements providing for minimum wages, hours 

of labor and working conditions generally together with the provision of arbitration of all disputes. 

In order to protect the contractors in their undertaking to maintain 

wages and working conditions, it is declared to be an unfair method 

of competition for any union member to engage in business as a 

contractor, or to solicit and accept contracts for the installation of 

Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, Asphalt Shingles, or any other roofing, without taking a withdrawal card, which 

withdrawal shall be effective for one year. 

4. RELATIONs BETWEEN CoNTRACTORs 

In order to comply with the purpose and requirements of The N ationa! Industrial Recovery Act the Associated Roofing Contractors 

of St. Louis and vicinity pledge themselves to the strict observance 

in all transactions of the followin,g code of fair competition: 

1. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing contractor to pay the journeyman roofers or laborers wages below the 

minimum established in this locality or the established wage scale 

in the territory in which any work is done. 

2. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing contractor to employ journeyman roofers or laborers to do a certain 

piece of work in a designated time. 

3. It shall be an unfair method of competition for a roofing contractor who is engaged to install a particular grade of slate or tile 
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on a job to substitute another or different grade or knowingly deviat'~ 

from established standards of workmanship or accepted practices. 

4. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing contractor to sell unset slate or tile. 

5. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing 

contractor to submit more than one bid on each job or not to adhere 

strictly to the terms and conditions of said bid, unless there is a 

change in the specifications warranting the submission of an additional bid. 

6. It shall be an unfair method of competition to criticise members, 

competitors, or their wares. 

7. The acceptance of contracts at less than :fair average cost being 

inimical to the preservation of fair wages and working conditions, 

it is declared an unfair method of competition for any slate or tile 

roofing contractor to submit a bid or accept a contract at a price 

which is less than the cost of labor plus the cost of the Slate, Tile, 

Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, or Asphalt Shingles 

plus the price of all necessary material such as paper, nails, cement, 

strips, and such flashings, counterflashings, and valleys as specified 

plus a reasonable allowance for all overhead expenses such as administration, selling, depreciation, taxes, interest, auto expense, insurance, hauling, maintenance, etc., which allowance has been determined by a study of the actual records and experience of members 

to be thirty-five percent (35%) of the sales cost. 

It shall be a fair method of competition for the roofing contractor, 

through their local organization, to collect and file and disseminate 

credit information for the beneficial conduct of the industry. 

8. The fact that discounts, rebates, either in money or labor, or 

any other article of value would serve to disrupt the roofing business, 

lower the established wage scale, and lower the condition of labor it 

is declared an unfair method of competition to rebate, make special 

discounts, do extra work without proper reimbursement, or to permit 

the charging of various items not due the contractor to his account. 

5. RELATIONs BETWEEN CoKTRACTORs, MANUFACTURERs, AND JoBBERS 

Although the manufacturers of tiles, producers and jobbers of 

slate and other accessories are not parties to this submission, their 

cooperation with the contractors in the observance and enforcement 

of certain rules of fair practice are necessary to the maintenance of 

minimum wages and fair working conditions for labor and to the 

upholding of the rules of fair competition herein provided for 

contractors. 

The undersigned therefore respectfully request that, if the said 

manufacturers, jobbers, and producers, represented by the National 

Slate Association and others shall submit codes, the following suggestions be written into said code if they are not proposed in substance by said manufacturers, jobbers~ and producers. 

1. To prevent unfair discrimination between different contractors 

leading to unfair competitive advantages, all manufacturers, jobbers, 

and producers shall publish from time to time their respective prices 

for the various grades and ::;tyles of products, toget~ er with all terms 

of sale and quantity discounts, and shall adhere to sueh public prices 

and terms in all transactions. 
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2. To insure proper workmanship and protect the good will of the 

business as well as the fair wages and working conditions herein 

prescribed, the manufacturers, jobbers, and producers shall confine 

their sales to the Roofing Contractors installing Slate, Tile, Quarry 

Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles and shall 

refrain from selling their product directly to the builders, general 

contractors, owners, and others. 

3. To protect the good will of the business and prevent frauds on 

the public, the manufacturers, jobbers, and .producers shall observe 

scrupulously the grades approved by the National Slate Association 

and recognized standards in other materials and shall not ship or 

deliver any slate or other products that are not labeled with the 

correct grade or properly designated. 

4. Any misbranding of goods or misrepresentation as to grades or 

any failure to affix proper seals shall be an unfair method of 

competition. 

6. STATUTORY PROVISIONS 

In keeping with the requirements of section 7 (A) of the National 

Industrial Recovery Act the undersigned hereby subscribes to the 

following provisions. 

1. Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing and shall be 

free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of the employers 

of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives 

or in self-organizations, or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. 

2. Employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other working conditions approved or 

prescribed by the President. 

7. ENFORCEMENT OF CoDE 

As a rigid observance of this code, and supplementary provisions 

in the code to be submitted by or prescribed for the various roofing 

contractors, is necessary to the acc01nplishment of the purpose of the 

National Industrial Recovery Act, a Board is hereby created, to 

consist of the secretary and two contractors named by the President 

of the Associated Roofing Contractors of St. Louis, to investigate 

all complaints of accepting contracts below cost as herein defined, 

or of other violations of this code by roofing contractors, and to 

cooperate fully with the prosecuting officer of the government 

charged with the enforcement of said act. 

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